College Football is on today. Here, read about it.
John Brandon on championship week in college football - Grantland
Previewing the conference championships.
Draft Breakdown — Scouting Report: David DeCastro
DeCastro is a smart, technically sound guard who has been an integral part of Stanford’s dominant power rushing attack for three years. While not overly impressive physically, DeCastro beats his opponents consistently by being fundamentally sound, consistent with effort, and taking advantage of his natural flexibility to gain leverage advantages. He is a master at pulling and trapping, and opens holes in the running game with a seek-and-destroy attitude. One of the top guards I have watched on tape, DeCastro is worthy of top-15 consideration in the 2012 draft.
Scouting Notebook: 2013 QB Class, Fired Coaches Means Early Entrants, USC's JRs On Deck, and Top 10 JR RB Carries | Articles
In another edition of the Scouting Notebook, we'll take a look at the crop of JUNIORS in this NFL Draft in particular, as well as some sophomores as well. I'll delve into the 2013 quarterback draft after this Luck/Barkley/Griffin-palooza is overwith.
Diamond in the Rough: Ryan Steed, CB, Furman | Articles - In 2008, Pinewood Prep School in Summerville, South Carolina had one of the best shooting guards on their team. He wanted his chance to play in the NBA. He was a stud athlete for the Prep basketball team who helped them win 2 SCISA State Championships while being named all-region and all-state as well, while playing basketball for Pinewood. Averaging 19.4 points a game and named MVP after dropping 34 on Porter-Gaud, he anticipated some big time division schools would come call, and he'd reach that NBA dream.
The Crystal Ball Run Pac-12 Championship Preview: Where Our Staff Relentlessly Makes Fun Of Rick Neuheisel | December - With Championship Weekend starting early this year, we decided to give you a little "Dirty Dozen" preview on all the biggest games.
FCS Weekend Preview: Part I | December - In between our look at all the conference championship previews today, Crystal Ball Run will look at this year's playoffs...the FCS playoffs that is. Here is Part I of Matt Elder's preview, with Part II coming Saturday morning.
Draft Breakdown — The Fat Guy No One’s Talking About - Recently, a lot of talk has centered around Memphis defensive tackle Dontari Poe. And rightfully so: the 6’5″, 350-pounder is a tremendous athlete for a man his size, and he plays with a great motor. However, there’s another potential early round big man who should be getting a whole lot of attention, Utah DT Star Lotulelei.
Week 14 picks: LSU, Oregon, and Oklahoma will claim titles - NCAA Football - CBSSports.com - The tailspin continues. I haven't been so bad this month where you could do that opposite thing to find winners, but I'd encourage you to look at Mr. Dodd's picks. The guy is on fire! Me? I just went 7-9 last week against the line to drop me to three under .500 against the number. The good: picking Stanford to have no trouble with Notre Dame. The bad: picking Texas Tech to almost knock off Baylor. The ugly: picking Virginia Tech to barely beat UVA. Here are this week's guesses:
2012 NFL Draft: Boise State's Doug Martin rising as elite prospect - NFL - Sporting News - At the beginning of each football season, NFL teams have initial player grades based on their scouts evaluating big college programs over the summer and the National or BLESTO evaluations. Now that nearly through with the 2011 college season, those grades are changing. Here is a breakdown of players whose performance has helped their draft stock and two who haven't played as well as expected.
Arizona's Foles another Pac-12 QB to keep an eye on - NFL - Sporting News - News and notes from around pro football scouting circles: • Andrew Luck and Matt Barkley aren’t the only Pac-12 quarterbacks who are intriguing NFL scouts. Though Arizona’s Nick Foles hasn’t been fantastic this season for a disappointing team whose coach was fired, scouts have taken notice of his skills and believe he has the talent to be a good starter in the NFL.
2012 NFL Draft: Trent Richardson second only to Andrew Luck in scouts' eyes - NFL - Sporting News - As the college season is nearing its completion, scouts are finishing their fall travels and preparing for postseason all-star games. Throughout 2011 numerous players have moved up and down NFL teams' draft boards based primarily on their on field play, but also because of injuries and some off-the-field concerns. Below are four players whose stock changed over the past month.
Big Board: Solid seniors can't keep up with underclassmen - NFL - CBSSports.com - NFLDraftScout.com - With agents officially allowed to begin their recruiting of underclassmen on Dec. 1, it won't be long before the player pool for the 2012 NFL Draft will be clear.
Barkley, Kalil not only Trojans exploring NFL - CBSSports.com - Considered possible top five picks in next April's NFL draft, it should come as no surprise that Southern California quarterback Matt Barkley and left tackle Matt Kalil are considering leaving school early. According to multiple sources, these aren't the only Trojans exploring their options.
Prospect of the day: Houston OLB Sammy Brown | National Football Post - Senior pass rusher having a productive final season.
Prospect of the day: Florida State CB Mike Harris | National Football Post - Former JUCO kid is making his mark as an NFL prospect.
Prospect of the day: Boise State OT Nate Potter | National Football Post - Is Potter starting to fall down draft boards?
Prospect of the day: Marshall DE Vinny Curry | National Football Post - Senior lineman looks like an idea 43 guy who can potentially play three downs.
Draft Talk 11.0 | National Football Post - Chad Reuter of CBS Sports is back to talk second tier quarterback prospects with Wes Bunting this week.
Scout’s corner: prospect stock watch | National Football Post - Three up and three down.
Scout’s corner: Temple’s new age full back | National Football Post - He’s versatile, athletic and not afraid to block.
Is The 2nd Round The Best Place To Find A Quality RB? - Mocking The Draft - The success of recent 2nd round picks Matt Forte, LeSean McCoy, Maurice Jones-Drew and Ray Rice combined with the devaluation of RB's league-wide has led a lot of draft observers to conclude that the 2nd round is the "sweet spot" for finding a RB. You get a good player, without using a 1st round pick on a position which is less valuable (in many minds) than it used to be and has a short shelf life. The 2012 draft is fairly weak in terms of early RB talent, especially once you get beyond sure-fire top 10 pick Trent Richardson and likely 1st rounder Lamar Miller (assuming he declares). But there are still a few decent prospects who should hear their name called in the 2nd round. What's the likelihood that 2012 will produce the next Forte, McCoy, Jones-Drew or Rice?
Report: Mississippi State DT Fletcher Cox to enter 2012 NFL Draft - Mocking The Draft - Sources have told Tony Pauline of Draft Insider and SI.com that Mississippi State defensive tackle Fletcher Cox will forgo his senior season and enter the 2012 NFL Draft.
As expected, Matt Barkley submits NFL Draft paperwork - Mocking The Draft - As expected, Southern California quarterback Matt Barkley is going to explore his NFL Draft options. Also as expected, he remains wildly diplomatic about the whole process.
As Barkley ponders NFL draft, Pac-12 title game won’t feature him - NCAA Football - Sporting News - Will Matt Barkley enter the NFL draft or will he return to USC for his senior season?
Glaring Team Needs - Mocking The Draft - Welcome back to our Glaring Team Needs series! With the college football season wrapping up and close to half the NFL officially out of the playoffs and jockeying for draft position, many fan bases are going to start turning their attention to the NFL's version of Christmas. If you haven't already, now is the time to develop the months long relationship known as, the "Draft Crush", sometimes referred to as, "man crush". Every fan has one.
Prospect of the day: Marshall DE Vinny Curry | National Football Post - Senior lineman looks like an idea 43 guy who can potentially play three downs.